Moartea domnului Lazarescu (2005)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Cristi Puiu

Writers:

Cristi Puiu (writer)
Razvan Radulescu (writer)

Release Date:

22 September 2005 (Romania)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Mr. Lazarescu, a 63 year old lonely man feels sick and calls the ambulance. When it arrives the doctor...

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Ambulance | Doctor | Stairway | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

23 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Doru Ana	...	Sandu Sterian
Monica Barladeanu	...	Mariana
Alina Berzunteanu	...	Dr. Zamfir
Doru Boguta	...	Ambulantier
Mimi Branescu	...	Dr. Mirica
Mihai Bratila	...	Dr. Breslasu
Dragos Bucur	...	Misu
Robert Bumbes	...	Robert
Dan Chiriac	...	Medic triaj Spitalui Universitar
Mirela Cioaba	...	Marioara
Laura Cret	...	Medic ecograf, Spitalui Sf. Spiridon
Dana Dogaru	...	Mihaela Sterian
Bogdan Dumitrache	...	Medic, Spitalui Sf. Spiridon
Alexandru Fifea	...	Brancardier, Spitalui Sf. Spiridon
Ion Fiscuteanu	...	Mr. Domnul Lazarescu (as Iaon Fiscuteanu)

Also Known As:

The Death of Mister Lazarescu (Canada: English title) (festival title) (International: English title)
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

150 min | Romania:153 min (original version) | Hong Kong:153 min

Country:

Romania

Language:

Romanian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Brazil:16 | USA:R | UK:15 | Hungary:16 | Argentina:16 | Norway:A | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Mandragora Movies

Trivia:

The film was shot in 45 days and edited in 38 days.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 2006 Independent Spirit Awards (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

In Apa Marii

We all bite the dust one day, some of us sooner than others...

Life sucks. Two words that can very easily define the content of this movie. If you take a look at your average American production about hospitals/emergency shifts, you'll undoubtedly see "Chicago Hope" type of docs and nurses running around hallways with patients on stretchers, shouting at each other desperately, saying stuff like "This guy needs O2 fast!", "Morphine NOW!!!", "OMG! We're losing him, shockers ASAP!". All of them doing they're best to save the life of the poor bastard that rests in their hands. Well you won't get any of that in this picture. All you'll get here is a cold glass of reality.

"Moartea domnului Lazarescu" - roughly translated into "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu" is the content of the above-mentioned glass. This tragicomic story takes place in a little place I like (usually dislike) to call home, Romania-Bucharest. Don't worry, no spoilers here(although the title itself could be considered one). The movie depicts the way a misfortunate elderly citizen get's carried away from hospital to hospital in order to find relief for his condition. I won't go too much in the story, because it's really worth seeing it for yourself. Now of course if you are lacking the skill to speak Romanian(and you most probably are), or if you aren't used with subtitles, this movie might be a little hard to chew. But if you can jump this minor obstacle, you're in for an interesting movie.

The action takes place at a slow and calm pace, too calm and too slow for the old man and his health issues. Wherever he is taken by the two ambulance medics he seems to be mistreated/patronized by doctors and nurses. This is not the only conflict in the movie. The film tries to show you the unpleasant attitude between various medical units. For example, the practically never ending conflicts between doctors and ambulance medics.

This movie isn't really the commercial sort (that's a compliment on my part). The very slow pace at which everything happens will probably send off many viewers. But if you are patient, you'll see that by the middle of the picture you'll get more and more curious of what will happen next to Mr. Lazarescu.